the5thghostbuster wrote:Thor - oh hell yea! I was never a Thor fan as a kid, but this film really is a perfect piece of summer entertainment. And there needs to be a spin off film about the Warriors Three.

Yup, that HELL YEAH! is right on target! Hemsworth freaking nails it, I mean he got all of the stuff right. The cocky attitude, the learned humility, the boyish exuberance, etc. And yes, I will admit I was WRONG about Hopkins, (ya happy, Harold?) he was just fine, but he still didn't quite give me as much "serious, bad-ass mofo you don't wanna mess with" as I expected from the character, but he was hardly the mess I'd feared, either. (Odd note, Asgardian eyepatches don't need straps?) The Warrior's Three did indeed kick ass themselves (and I second a spin-off film, or at least a short on the damn Blu-Ray) and Sif was one suitably hot goddess. Asgard looked....fantastic, but weirdly a lot of it looked like the concepts of 70's sci-fi/fantasy stuff, but done with current high tech materials and CGI (Bifrost looked right out of Logan's Run). DON"T LOOK CLOSELY HERE!!! POSSIBLE SPOILER!Action packed from the opening minute to finish, and one hell of a fun ride, but I can't believe no one's mentioned the preview of an avenger!!!Cannot wait for Captain America and The Avengers!!! The preview for Cap shows all kinds of cool stuff, and apparently he goes into battle with the Howling Commandos!! Dum Dum Dugan!!! Woo-Hoo!!!

"I ain't a boy, no I'm a man, and I believe in the Promised Land"-Coming to the USA on January 20, 2009!

the5thghostbuster wrote:Thor - oh hell yea! I was never a Thor fan as a kid, but this film really is a perfect piece of summer entertainment. And there needs to be a spin off film about the Warriors Three.

Yup, that HELL YEAH! is right on target! Hemsworth freaking nails it, I mean he got all of the stuff right. The cocky attitude, the learned humility, the boyish exuberance, etc. And yes, I will admit I was WRONG about Hopkins, (ya happy, Harold?) he was just fine, but he still didn't quite give me as much "serious, bad-ass mofo you don't wanna mess with" as I expected from the character, but he was hardly the mess I'd feared, either. (Odd note, Asgardian eyepatches don't need straps?) The Warrior's Three did indeed kick ass themselves (and I second a spin-off film, or at least a short on the damn Blu-Ray) and Sif was one suitably hot goddess. Asgard looked....fantastic, but weirdly a lot of it looked like the concepts of 70's sci-fi/fantasy stuff, but done with current high tech materials and CGI (Bifrost looked right out of Logan's Run). DON"T LOOK CLOSELY HERE!!! POSSIBLE SPOILER!Action packed from the opening minute to finish, and one hell of a fun ride, but I can't believe no one's mentioned the preview of an avenger!!!Cannot wait for Captain America and The Avengers!!! The preview for Cap shows all kinds of cool stuff, and apparently he goes into battle with the Howling Commandos!! Dum Dum Dugan!!! Woo-Hoo!!!

With regards to Hopkins: I dug his work, but I admit that I was really, really hoping that the rumour of Brian Blessed would have turned out to be true!

Dunnyman wrote: And yes, I will admit I was WRONG about Hopkins, (ya happy, Harold?) he was just fine, but he still didn't quite give me as much "serious, bad-ass mofo you don't wanna mess with" as I expected from the character, but he was hardly the mess I'd feared, either.

It's with Hopkins & all the Asgard stuff that I think Branagh's Shakespeare work paid off big time. I think Hopkins is one of those actors a lot of directors are kind of afraid of and so a lot of the time he isn't reined in or properly directed. You are right, his work was far from being a mess. I'd go as far he brought a quiet kind of dignity that truly grounds the Asgard sequences. He is one of the biggest surprises of the movie. KB really did a helluva a job casting the film.

(Odd note, Asgardian eyepatches don't need straps?)

Or Klingons for that matter. Christopher Plummer in Star Trek VI anyone?

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

HGervais wrote:It's with Hopkins & all the Asgard stuff that I think Branagh's Shakespeare work paid off big time. I think Hopkins is one of those actors a lot of directors are kind of afraid of and so a lot of the time he isn't reined in or properly directed. You are right, his work was far from being a mess. I'd go as far he brought a quiet kind of dignity that truly grounds the Asgard sequences. He is one of the biggest surprises of the movie. KB really did a helluva a job casting the film.

He did indeed, his casting of the Warriors Three was superb, and surprise surprise, Rene Russo as Frigga, excellent choice! (although she's not Thor's mother-fanboy complaint over) I just wish Hopkins could have been a bit more ornery, because throughout the comics, he's kind of an asshole at times with his "I'm the goddamn AllFather, I'll do whatever the hell I want!" attitude. I'm just glad they didn't go full-on Shakespeare as far as the dialogue because it always irked me as far as the comics.

Jon Mercer wrote:

HGervais wrote:

Dunnyman wrote:(Odd note, Asgardian eyepatches don't need straps?)

Or Klingons for that matter. Christopher Plummer in Star Trek VI anyone?

I defy you to find a more badass way of applying an eyepatch than bolting the f***ing thing to your face.

True, true....serious badassery there...

"I ain't a boy, no I'm a man, and I believe in the Promised Land"-Coming to the USA on January 20, 2009!

Happy Together (1997) - This is probably the Wong Kar-Wai film where the Nouvelle Vague influence is the most evident.More low-key and languid than his previous films it puts even more emphasis on the feelings of alienation and loneliness felt by the main character. It never makes a big deal of the fact that the protagonist is gay- and that is a good thing, although his sexuality does lends a nice subtext to his relationship with his coworker from the restaurant. As usual for a Kar Wai flick the cinematography is gorgeous and the actors great, but it's got an atmosphere and feeling unlike anything else I've seen from him so far.

1. Poorly staged action robs the film of kinetic thrills which would have at least distracted from...

2. Stock characterization: The weary king; the rebellious daughter who "fights like a man" (why isn't the supposed novelty of this character insulting again?), and who seems to be the only woman in the village for most of the movie; the short, round comic relief; the mysterious stranger; etc. And names like Hrothgar, Unferth, Kainan, Boromir... maybe don't remind people of the movie they'd rather be watching.

3. Story collage that doesn't even make sense. There's not an original idea anywhere here, which is fine, if the movie delivers the goods, but the action is muted and borderline incoherent. Kainan's people are so desperate for land, they nuke an entire planet, eradicating entire species and colonize the charred remains, but they apparently abandon a "seed colony" on a water- and resource-rich planet like earth?! WTF?! Wulfric falls into a pit of fuel, crawls out, and dives out of the way of a massive fireball that licks his boot heels, then engages in close combat with a flaming monster, all while dripping with flammable liquid, and we're not supposed to notice that he's blatantly not on fire?

4. Rote dialogue and plotting. There is hardly a line here that hasn't been spoken a dozen times in better, more famous movies, where it already sounded tired. Most of the dialogue is so well-worn, the actors looked embarrassed to be speaking it.

5. Acute drearification. I suspect one of Howard McCain's chief bits of direction was "Try to have less fun with this." Good lord, people, you're in a viking-alien-monster-action movie. Try to enjoy yourselves for at least some of it.

6. Poorly conceived creature. The monster feels pretty standard, except that it glows. It's basically Emmerich's Godzilla with some tentacle things. And it bleeds like the Predator. And... blows people up? Or something.

7. Waste of Perlman. A deadly sin. You bring a hugely charismatic actor who looks born to play a viking into the movie and give him all of five minutes of screen time? Despite his chops, dude's not the most exclusive and pricey of actors. Maybe he could have had an expanded role, like that of the pretty-boy heir to the throne whose stubble looks like it's made of grease-paint.

8. Superfluous blond moppet. Ugh. Really? An orphan?

9. Wasted attempts at character development. The scene in which Kainan describes how his people took over the Morwen planet and all but eradicated the species serve only to fill a Character Depth beat in the movie, not to actually provide any thematic resonance. This fairly f***ing major aspect of the Kainan-Morwen relationship is promptly forgotten so we can get on with trying to exterminate what is probably the last of this species who's been screwed over royally by a genocidal race of barbarians, apparently.

Gabriel Girard wrote:I enjoyed Outlander much more than Zemeckis' Beowulf. Take that as you will.

Beowulf was so much more ambitious than Outlander in its intent that the two films don't seem that comparable to me. Although, even taken simply as a supernatural viking action flick, I think Beowulf has the edge by a wide margin.

But, again, I don't think they were attempting the same thing. Gaiman, Avery and Zemeckis demonstrated an interest in (and an understanding of) the Nordic traditions of boasting and reputation, they presented a more believably coarse lifestyle, twisted a familiar epic in interesting thematic directions, making the original myth more organic in its narrative and explored the consequences of pride, lust, arrogance and parenthood. Zemeckis melded these elements with fluid, coherent action sequences. Gaiman and Avery scripted all this without falling back on the same tired pseudo-profound phrases that are recycled ad nauseum in historical fiction, instead modernizing the style of speech inherent in Nordic myth. Sadly, it was done in dead-eyed, mo-capped 3D.

Andrew,I wish that my answer could have the same level of intelligent discourse that you put into your post . Unfortunately I have seen Beowulf only once in April 2008. Hence all I remember is that I was fairly unimpressed by it and even bored for most of the way. Maybe I need to revisit it since I usually love Mr Gaiman's written work. But I think that I will come out with the thought that it's an interesting failure. To be ttotally honest I haven't given a thought to it or to Outlander since I saw them. I approached them both as popcorn flicks and Outlander won out for me in that category.

Sweet Smell of SuccessI can't believe this is not more well known (or maybe I don't run in the right circles); I'd never heard of it before Criterion announced it. Seems years ahead of its time (similar to how I feel watching Kiss Me Deadly) while serving as an invaluable time capsule for Manhattan nightlife circa late 1950s. The only thing that has not aged well is the 'all-powerful gossip columnist' angle--you sort of have to mentally insert whatever you consider to be today's version in order to relate. The picture quality is just gorgeous. So glad I bought this.

Gabriel Girard wrote:Andrew,I wish that my answer could have the same level of intelligent discourse that you put into your post . Unfortunately I have seen Beowulf only once in April 2008. Hence all I remember is that I was fairly unimpressed by it and even bored for most of the way. Maybe I need to revisit it since I usually love Mr Gaiman's written work. But I think that I will come out with the thought that it's an interesting failure. To be ttotally honest I haven't given a thought to it or to Outlander since I saw them. I approached them both as popcorn flicks and Outlander won out for me in that category.

Morning Glory which i loved....i kept expecting it to take a right hand turn into traditional hollywood filmdom..but it never did...it was a film for grownups.

Due Date...which sad to say is 120 minutes of my life i won't get back...it's not a very good homage to planes trains and automobiles or even midnight run..or even the hangover...it had a few misteps which were pretty freaking huge...i could have made the film so much better with ONE move. I swear..just ONE thing would have made that 120 minutes worth watching..if RDJ had pushed Galifianakis into the grand canyon. ...SEE didn't that make it better?

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" - Douglas Adams

Steve T Power wrote:and everyone knows the best telling of Beowulf out there is this one.

Is it wrong that I really, really want to see that film?

It's been on my shelf for about 10 years. I just can't bring myself to part with it. It was a blind buy that was watched through once. It was horrid. But every damn time i try, i just... can't... part with it.

Steve T Power wrote:and everyone knows the best telling of Beowulf out there is this one.

Is it wrong that I really, really want to see that film?

It's been on my shelf for about 10 years. I just can't bring myself to part with it. It was a blind buy that was watched through once. It was horrid. But every damn time i try, i just... can't... part with it.

What the hell sort of Faustian bargain did Christopher Lambert make that he was considered a semi-credible action star in the '80s and '90s? What were we thinking?

Steve T Power wrote:and everyone knows the best telling of Beowulf out there is this one.

Is it wrong that I really, really want to see that film?

It's been on my shelf for about 10 years. I just can't bring myself to part with it. It was a blind buy that was watched through once. It was horrid. But every damn time i try, i just... can't... part with it.

What the hell sort of Faustian bargain did Christopher Lambert make that he was considered a semi-credible action star in the '80s and '90s? What were we thinking?

Steve T Power wrote:and everyone knows the best telling of Beowulf out there is this one.

Is it wrong that I really, really want to see that film?

It's been on my shelf for about 10 years. I just can't bring myself to part with it. It was a blind buy that was watched through once. It was horrid. But every damn time i try, i just... can't... part with it.

What the hell sort of Faustian bargain did Christopher Lambert make that he was considered a semi-credible action star in the '80s and '90s? What were we thinking?

Steve T Power wrote:and everyone knows the best telling of Beowulf out there is this one.

Is it wrong that I really, really want to see that film?

It's been on my shelf for about 10 years. I just can't bring myself to part with it. It was a blind buy that was watched through once. It was horrid. But every damn time i try, i just... can't... part with it.

What the hell sort of Faustian bargain did Christopher Lambert make that he was considered a semi-credible action star in the '80s and '90s? What were we thinking?

Lambert was a credible action. The problem was the films he tended to do were...crap. On the plus side, he odd taste in films did give us classics like Highlander and fun films such as Subway.

the A Team i put the DVD in and by the time i realized my mistake i had a cat and a dog laying on me and it wasn't worth the energy to move them to reach the remote... 137minutes of my life i will never get back. it was nonsensical and illogical, it didn't know if it wanted to be for teenagers or R-rated. So many physics defying special effects it should be shelved as science fiction. dont say 'what did you expect' either it should have been a decent ensemble shootemup like the Expendables or the Losers or it should have been silly t-fare on the big screen - suitable for the same preteens who watched it in prime time. But this was uncomfortably bad.

I am REmarathoning Sports Night...not really much sports in sports night but the pre West Wing banter is always good. hmm...sometimes it's sad that we can actually count the Tv shows written by and for smart people.

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" - Douglas Adams

Last Man Standing. It's been almost 15 years since I've seen this, and it's aged beautifully. This is one of the last hand-made action flicks. It wasn't obvious to me as a 15-year-old that it is Walter Hill's (possibly unconscious) love letter to John Woo. The firefights are ferocious conflagrations of carnage, with two-fisted barrels sending bodies cartwheeling through waves of splintered woodwork. The staging, framing and cutting feel straight out of The Killer. I'd also hazard a guess that this is one of Robert Rodriguez' favorite movies. His latter-day exploitation scores are throaty reworkings of Ry Cooder's work here, and the hard-boiled narration by Bruce Willis sounds like a warm-up to Sin City's overcooked voice-over. Of course, LMS is a vastly superior film. Seeing as this is at least the third iteration of Yojimbo, the story feels all-too familiar, but Hill soaks the production in so much heat, dust and style that it hardly matters.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (aka Along Came a Sweden). So, yeah, if this were an American movie, it would be written off as a formula whodunit with a ridiculous twist, complete with numerical codes that reference the bible and a climactic monologue by the villain explaining the crime. Lisbeth Salander is not a character. She's a cardboard victim/avenger with nothing but a history of cruelty and an outsider's view of alternative culture to give her any dimension. The title is amusingly apt, as it encapsulates the entire approach to character: why craft rounded humans when you can simply identify players by a stereotypical aesthetic? Mikael Blomkvist is even more of a blank slate, and his relationship with Lisbeth feels entirely forced by narrative necessity (or the need for a non-rapey sex scene). Eff this noise. Most disappointing blind-buy in a long time.

Andrew Forbes wrote:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (aka Along Came a Sweden). So, yeah, if this were an American movie, it would be written off as a formula whodunit with a ridiculous twist, complete with numerical codes that reference the bible and a climactic monologue by the villain explaining the crime. Lisbeth Salander is not a character. She's a cardboard victim/avenger with nothing but a history of cruelty and an outsider's view of alternative culture to give her any dimension. The title is amusingly apt, as it encapsulates the entire approach to character: why craft rounded humans when you can simply identify players by a stereotypical aesthetic? Mikael Blomkvist is even more of a blank slate, and his relationship with Lisbeth feels entirely forced by narrative necessity (or the need for a non-rapey sex scene). Eff this noise. Most disappointing blind-buy in a long time.

Yep, you pretty much nailed it in my opinion. I'm wondering what Fincher could be planning on bringing to this that could possibly make it worth revisiting.

Rewatched François Truffaut's THE 400 BLOWS (1959) on Blu-ray. Just keeps getting and better, Léaud was such a natural young actor. This time I was amused by how theatrical and mannered the performances of Claire Maurier and Albert Rémy came across as Doinel's feuding parents. And has a movie ever opened and closed with such a simple but powerful, intimate but epic theme song like the one Jean Constantine delivers here? I'm biased but I think B&W movies look better in anamorphic scope than color one's. -ducks-

MST3K: POD PEOPLE (1991/1983) on Amazon On Demand Streaming. I was busy at work all night a couple of days ago and wanted to test the wireless connectivity on my 10" Panasonic portable Blu-ray player. "MST3K: Pod People" was the test subject (also wanted to check battery life). Ten minutes into "Pod People" though and I forgot all about the connections and tests because it's just too much fun to watch Trumpy do stupid things. The riffs ('Casio forest,' 'what pretentious crap!,' 'Huzzah!,' 'McCloud!,' etc.), scenes ('magic' telescope, music recording session, the 'pretentious student film,' etc.) and situations (egg poachers in movie A, young rocker & entourage in movie B, aliens & kid in movie C, etc.) add-up to a mini-major "MST3K" classic. The host segments rock and finishing off with 'A Clown in the Sky' leading into the movie's classic stinger, well, 'it' really 'stinks!' Even though I've seen this one too many times to count I hadn't noticed before that (a) for all its attempted kidie charm it's a pretty violent flick (almost the entire cast dies) and (b) there's a lot of 'day for night' photography (I finally got the Truffaut joke!) masked by more fog than there ever was in John Carpenter's "The Fog." Speaking of John...

ESCAPE FROM L.A. (1996) on Blu-ray. I've seen this one a few times and I'm still not sure whether Carpenter, Debra Hill and Kurt Russell (who also co-wrote and produced the flick) set out to (a) deliberately do a sh***y movie, (b) it turned out to be a sh***y movie or (c) the means at their disposal were way below their ambition. It's probably a mix of all three but a more impressive cast of good actors on a weird-for-weirdness-sake action flick you will not see. For every scene that is an absolute knockout (the whole 'Surgeon of Beverly Hills' bit with Bruce Campbell, Pam Grier's digitally-altered voice, etc.) there's something so amateurish-looking and embarrassing (the 'ride the wave' scene, which would be almost-tolerable if the impossible coincidence of Bushemi driving on that exact road at that precise moment didn't completely ruin it) you have to talk yourself into thinking Carpenter/Hill/Russell knew all along they wanted to waste Paramount's millions at the expense of their careers. Between the bad actors (Georges Corraface, who sticks out amongst so many talented thesps), hilariously-horrid dialogue ('I was a Muslim in South Dakota' ), tributes (Cuervo's car looks an awful lot like a girl Carpenter knew in '82), crappy score (thank you Shirley Walker) and dated SFX (which even the bargain HD transfer on the barebones Paramount Blu-ray does no favors) "Escape from L.A." is a notorious spectacle you can't help but NOT look away from. I woud kill for a special edition with commentary track/documentary in which Carpenter and Russell are hooked on truth serum IV's.

PRIMEVAL SERIES 3 (2009) on Amazon On Demand Streaming for the first time. While I still admire that this series isn't afraid to thin the main cast or change things radically on a regular basis (plus Helen Cutter is one of the most twisted TV baddies I've seen in a long time) this batch of 10 episodes just aren't as entertaining and inventive as the previous two series. Though we still get the occasional cool monster/anomaly, reliably-terse Ben Miller putdowns and geeky situations (Gigantosourus versus 747) this time it all feels like its threading water. It doesn't help that Jason Flemyng's Danny Quinn becomes part of the ARC project in the most ridiculous way (IMO), plus the chemistry of the revamped-midway cast isn't as tight as during the Doug Henshall episodes. While I still like it and look forward to seeing the just-aired Season 4 (when Amazon Prime has it for free) "Primeval" may already be past its prime.

J.M. Vargas wrote:ESCAPE FROM L.A. (1996) on Blu-ray. I've seen this one a few times and I'm still not sure whether Carpenter, Debra Hill and Kurt Russell (who also co-wrote and produced the flick) set out to (a) deliberately do a sh***y movie, (b) it turned out to be a sh***y movie or (c) the means at their disposal were way below their ambition. It's probably a mix of all three but a more impressive cast of good actors on a weird-for-weirdness-sake action flick you will not see. For every scene that is an absolute knockout (the whole 'Surgeon of Beverly Hills' bit with Bruce Campbell, Pam Grier's digitally-altered voice, etc.) there's something so amateurish-looking and embarrassing (the 'ride the wave' scene, which would be almost-tolerable if the impossible coincidence of Bushemi driving on that exact road at that precise moment didn't completely ruin it) you have to talk yourself into thinking Carpenter/Hill/Russell knew all along they wanted to waste Paramount's millions at the expense of their careers. Between the bad actors (Georges Corraface, who sticks out amongst so many talented thesps), hilariously-horrid dialogue ('I was a Muslim in South Dakota' ), tributes (Cuervo's car looks an awful lot like a girl Carpenter knew in '82), crappy score (thank you Shirley Walker) and dated SFX (which even the bargain HD transfer on the barebones Paramount Blu-ray does no favors) "Escape from L.A." is a notorious spectacle you can't help but NOT look away from. I woud kill for a special edition with commentary track/documentary in which Carpenter and Russell are hooked on truth serum IV's.

There's definitely a huge degree of irony at work there. Too many callbacks to the rough and tumble Hollywood schlock of the '70s. One could argue that Carpenter was definitely ahead of the curve on this one; He hit the whole 'Grindhouse' racket before Rodriguez and Tarantino made it cool with their all too self aware parody/homage pale imitators. I consider Escape from LA the "Evil Dead II" to Escape from New York's "Evil Dead". They basically remade the first film with a sense of humor, and in this particular case, I think it worked brilliantly. I mean, come on, Snake plunges the world into a second Dark Age amidst the twang of wild west guitar in the final moments of the movie, if that ain't tongue in cheek, I don't know what is.

Steve T Power wrote: I consider Escape from LA the "Evil Dead II" to Escape from New York's "Evil Dead". They basically remade the first film with a sense of humor, and in this particular case, I think it worked brilliantly.

Man, I almost wrote this in reply to Vargas' post. Stop reading my mind Power!

Saw too old favorites this weekend: sex,lies and videotape and Sneakers. I saw Tangled yesterday - it was pretty fun.

Prince of Darkness - This felt like it was missing it's third act. It starts out with a group of scientists getting together for some mysterious reason, then we find out as characters start getting "corrupted." But it never really went anywhere. Why establish that these people are so intellectual, then just throw them into a physical survival fight? It would have been more satisfying had they used their brains to resolve the situation. And the movie ended very suddenly, as if they didn't know how to wrap everything up. So what did they actually intend to do with their jar of evil, what was their plan?

But still, John Carpenter's pacing and tone were perfect as always, I just wish that ability were used in a better story.

Steve T Power wrote: I consider Escape from LA the "Evil Dead II" to Escape from New York's "Evil Dead". They basically remade the first film with a sense of humor, and in this particular case, I think it worked brilliantly.

Man, I almost wrote this in reply to Vargas' post. Stop reading my mind Power!

Andrew Forbes wrote:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (aka Along Came a Sweden). So, yeah, if this were an American movie, it would be written off as a formula whodunit with a ridiculous twist, complete with numerical codes that reference the bible and a climactic monologue by the villain explaining the crime. Lisbeth Salander is not a character. She's a cardboard victim/avenger with nothing but a history of cruelty and an outsider's view of alternative culture to give her any dimension.

There are layers and quirkiness of Lisbeth in the book that the movie just omits or skims over completely. There's a lot more to her than that, especially in the second book The Girl Who Played With Fire.

That said, I can see how you didn't like it.

"Aliens conquering Earth would be fine with me, as long as they make me their queen."- Gillian Anderson

Ugetsu - My first Mizoguchi film and what an awesome one. Exquisitely photographed with a unique otherworldy atmosphere. It manages to balance a love story with insights into politics and human nature,there's even some humor thrown in with the Tobei storyline. I'm still digesting it, which is always the sign of a great film.

Welcome to the world of a new master director. So much great stuff ("Sansho the Bailiff," "Sisters of the Gion," "Streets of Shame," "The Life of Oharu," etc.) you have yet to experience, not including the obligatory rewatch-with-commentary second viewing of "Ugetsu." The movie isn't 100% perfect because of the Tobei/Ohama arc of the story (IMO) who become the Mertz's to the Ricardo's Genjurô/Miyagi main story. Eitarô Ozawa's portrayal of Tobei is a little too broad and slapstick-heavy. His reunion with abandoned-wife-turned-prostitute Omaha (Mitsuko Mito) should have been a highlight, instead coming across as a check mark to cross out in Mizoguchi's 'to do' shooting script. Tony Rayns' commentary track (Criterion DVD) explains somewhat why the Tobei/Ohama stories were filmed like they are. Still, the next-to-last scene is simply too awesome for words; when it comes, how it unfolds, the way it's lit/shot/performed... just WOW!

Serial Mom - Ok, I think this might just be John Water's best film. While its satire is not exactly subtle (what is in a John Water's film?), he manages to ring quite a bit of comic gold out of this film, including that bats___ crazy trial that concludes the film.